


/■■ • 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Chap Copyright .No\ 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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HANDBOOK 



TO ACCOMPANY A 



COLOR SCHEME 



FOR THE 



KINDERGARTEN 



BY 



Ross Turner 






. /LLJ*x-- — m 






'AY SI 1896 


6 


fyfA 






THE PRANG EDUCATIONAL COMPANY 
Boston New York Chicago 



HANDBOOK 



TO ACCOMPANY A 



COLOR SCHEME 



FOR THE 



KINDERGARTEN 



BY 
c / 

S. y 

Ross Turner 
















WAY 811896 

THE PRANG EDUCATIONAL COMPANY 
Boston New York Chicago 



is// r* 

.71 



Copyright, 1896, 
By The Prang Educational Company. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



■o 



Having noticed the great fondness of chil- 
dren for color and the great pleasure which 
kindergarten children take in the use of color in 
their occupations, I have thought that some 
plan for the guidance of teachers in the use of 
colored paper and other color material might 
be acceptable. 



* 



As I have met teachers in the kindergartens 

and in public and private schools, I have found 

them waiting and eager for light, and desirous 

of any suggestions and help that could be 

offered. I have, therefore, after very earnest 

3 



study, embodied my thoughts on the use of 
color in the kindergartens in a chart for the 
school-room walls, and have given some definite 
directions as to its use in the text of this manual. 
To these I have added some suggestions with 
regard to the use of the brush. 

I take the purpose of color work in the 
kindergarten to be to cultivate the color percep- 
tion of the child, to awaken him to a sense of 
beauty in color and to develop aesthetic activity 
— to lead to an enjoyment of color harmony and 
to its production. It is impossible to train for 
production of the beautiful without training for 
appreciation of the beautiful.. 

We should try to develop in every child the 
artistic or creative faculty, and the stepping-stone 
to a right expression of this faculty is a proper 

4 



appreciation of the use of color. So we must 
teach the child the object and value of colors, 
and the natural combinations that lead to the 
harmonious use of color in everything that 
comes into everyday life. 



* 



There are discords in color as strong as those 
in sound, and which produce as rasping and 
wearing sensations. There are also chords and 
melodies in combinations of color which are as 
satisfying, inspiring, soothing and restful in 
their harmony as chords and melodies in music. 
If the children can be led to see and appreciate 
these color chords and to create beautiful color 
combinations, there need be no fear of their 
taking pleasure in making harsh and disagree- 
able arrangements of colors. 



* 



While believing wholly and heartily in the 

use of the brush for the expression of color, I 

5 



feel also the great need of the presentation to 
the children of standards or types of color, and I 
know no better way of doing this than by the 
use of colored paper. It would seem that the 
natural love and appreciation of good color in a 
child might be dulled and corrupted by the pre- 
sentation of crude colors, as the organs of sight 
and hearing are by dazzling light and harsh 
noise. The types of color given to children 
should therefore be selected with great care. I 
have chosen The Prang Standard Colors for use 
in what I have to offer. I submit the following 
scheme, hoping that it may lead the children to 
a love for, and an appreciation of, beauty and 
harmony of color — a spiritual enjoyment. 

Ross Turner. 

March 31, 1896. 



* 



CONTENTS 



Author's Preface . . . . . 

Color ....... 

Color Scheme . 
Arrangement of the Chart . 

Names of the Colors . . 

Harmony through a Mediating Undertone 
Order of Use of Colors . 
Harmonies of Colors with Undertones 
Color Feeling rather than Theory 
Use of Water Color ... 



PAGE. 

3 



1 1 



/ 



12 
14 
16 
20 
21 
22 
24 



COLOR. 



There are three things which young children espe- 
cially enjoy — sweets to please the taste, color to delight 
the eye, and sound to satisfy the ear. 

Color is one of the natural things that belong to 
everybody — it gives character to the external appear- 
ance of all things. In the art of a primitive people, 
color is a strong characteristic. The earliest tombs 
and temples, those of Egypt and of Etruria are highly 
decorated in color. It seems to be one of the earliest 
delights of childhood, and similarly enters into the 
earliest art-expressions of the race. A subject that 
makes such a strong appeal to the nature of the child is 
well worthy of study and development. 

Color-study has, however, often been too complex; 
it should be very simple in the kindergarten, for the 
eye is then only beginning to be sensitive to color and 
receives only simple color impressions. The color 
effect produced from the refraction of light by a prism 
is interesting and beautiful in general impression, but it 

9 



is too transitory for color study; moreover, only pig- 
ments and pigment effects are universally available for 
the development of the color sense and for color use; 
they must, therefore, be relied on for color instruction. 
Colored paper seems to be the best medium obtainable 
for the purpose ; this is already recognized in the 
kindergarten. Its judicious and sympathetic use, so as 
to bring out its full value and to prevent harmful results, 
is of great importance. 




</..j Oi'\ 



TO 



COLOR SCHEflE FOR KINDERGARTEN WORK. 

This color scheme, presented in the large color chart 
for use on the wall, and in the smaller chart shown 
on page 13, is intended as an aid toward harmonious 
color work in the kindergarten occupations. It is well 
known that certain color combinations are pleasing, 
while others have a very unpleasant effect. This 
chart presents a general plan for securing good color 
effect in combinations as well as for preventing harsh 
and crude arrangements, by the use of a harmonizing 
undertone with the brighter colors. 

The suggestions given in the following pages will be 
found applicable in all kindergarten occupations into 
which color enters, but especially in the folding, weaving 
and paper cutting. It will be observed that the whole 
scheme is based upon the kindergarten principle of medi- 
ation to promote harmony. 

Two colors which would be very unpleasant in com- 
bination, can be so harmonized by a mediating gray as 
to produce most beautiful effects. The one thing that 
you will find in very good decorative art, the Japanese 
art especially, is that there is always a compensation or 
balance of some neutral color. 

n 



ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHART. 

The pigmentary primaries, Yellow, Red and Blue, have 
been taken as the three distinct colors of the triangle, 
and seven intermediates showing the flow of color 
between these have been placed on each side of the 
triangle. The whole presents the color unit of twenty- 
four colors. 

Yellow is at the apex of the triangle, as it is the 
color containing the most light and thus appealing most 
strongly to the children. Passing down the left and 
lighter side of the triangle through the intermediates to 
Orange and to Red, across the base to Violet and Blue 
and up the right side to Green, Yellow is reached again, 
making a complete unit of color. 

On each side of the triangle there is placed a triangle 
having the tone of neutral gray best suited to harmonize 
with the colors on that side of the large triangle. Below, 
pairs of colors are arranged on a harmonizing ground 
or undertone of gray. 

In the centre there is a disk of neutral gray, sur- 
rounded by the six leading colors broken by gray — • 
Red Gray, Orange Gray, Yellow Gray, Green Gray, 
Blue Gray, Violet Gray. These Grays are frequently 
called broken colors. They give a suggestion for higher 
work in schools and kindergarten training classes. 



12 



COLOR SCHEME 



FOR THE <£ 

KINDERGARTEN 





Undertone / 




( Lighter X / 








I Normal XII / \ 




/yyo\ 


x\ 


/uY \ 


\ 


V yOYO\ 




\ / ° \ X 




\ /6rc\ / / 
■ \A ( 0C V 




/ro\ \ \ 




A \RCy 




/RRo\ ^ 



Ross Turner 



YYG 



YG 



X GYG 



YGy 



7 GBG 



\CCv 



BG 



VG 5 



'BBG 



m 




i.3 




POINTS OF COMPASS. 



NAMES OF THE COLORS. 



Six of these colors are known as the six leading 
colors — the six colors given by Froebel in his first 
gift : 

Yellow (Y) Violet (V) 

Orange (O) Blue (B) 

Red (R) Green (G) 

The six leading colors give the basis for the names of 
the twenty-four colors of the unit. Half-way between 
the six leading colors lie the six intermediates : 



Yellow Orange (YO) 
Red Orange (RO) 
Red Violet (RV) 



Blue Violet (BV) 
Blue Green (BG) 
Yellow Green (YG) 



14 




POINTS OF COLOR. 



Between these are the inter-intermediates, taking 
their names again from the six leading colors : 



Yellow Yellow Orange (YYO) 
Orange Yellow Orange (OYO) 
Orange Red Orange (ORO) 
Red Red Orange (RRO) 
Red Red Violet (RRV) 
Violet Red Violet (VRV) 



Violet Blue Violet (VBV) 
Blue Blue Violet (BBV) 
Blue Blue Green (BBG) 
Green Blue Green (GBG) 
Green Yellow Green (GYG) 
Yellow Yellow Green (YYG) 



This illustration of Points of Compass, on page 14, 
and that of Points of Color, on page 15, make this no- 
menclature readily intelligible. There are four leading 
points of compass ; in this nomenclature there are six 

leading points of color. 

15 



HARMONY THROUGH A MEDIATING UNDERTONE. 

In the arrangement of the chart it is not intended 
to carry out a color scheme on a scientific basis, but to 
show by the use of certain well-known colors, how to 
produce a harmonious relation of these to each other. 
Thus it is hoped to point towards harmony while 
avoiding as far as possible what might be considered as 
prescriptions for color combination. 



Any color can be combined with its tints with 
pleasing effect, if the scale of color is good. But 
the difficulty of combining two colors with harmo- 
nious results suggests the necessity of a mediating color 
that shall serve to establish a pleasing relation between 
them. To this end Neutral Gray, as being of more 
general application than any other color, has been 
selected as an undertone. As tone value is a very 
important factor in harmony of color combinations, three 
tones of the Neutral Gray have been employed, the 
Normal, the Light and Lighter tones, designated on the 
chart as X, XI, XII. # To suggest their use, triangles 

* These tones are also designated as Neutral Gray (NG), Neutral 
Gray L (NG L), and Neutral Gray LL (NG LL). 

16 



of these tones have been placed on the sides of the 
color unit- — each tone having been placed near the 
range of colors with which it will make the most agree- 
able combination. 

Thus, the undertone X (Lighter Neutral Gray) 
combines most agreeably with the colors from Yellow 
to Red ; the undertone XI (Light Neutral Gray) with 
the colors from Yellow to Blue ; and the undertone 
XII (Normal Neutral Gray) with the colors from Red 
to Blue. 

As a further aid toward the selection of harmonious 
combinations a series of a dozen pairs of colors is shown 
at the lower part of the chart with a tone of gray which 
serves best as an agreeable mediant. It will be noted 
that the first four pairs from Red to Yellow Orange are 
arranged on the undertone X (Lighter Neutral Gray), 
the second four on the undertone XI (Light Neutral 
Gray) and the last four on the undertone XII (Normal 
Neutral Gray). 

Other mediants are sue^ested in the central disk on 



'C>& 



the chart, composed of the grays resulting from the 

17 



mixture of gray with the six leading colors of the color 
unit. These grays are known as 



Yellow Gray (Gy) Violet Gray (V Gy) 

Orange Gray (O Gy) Blue Gray (B Gy) 

Red Gray (R Gy) Green Gray (G Gy) 



Arrangements may also be made with colors that 
are opposite on the chart — for instance, Red may be 
combined harmoniously with any of the colors on the 
opposite side of the triangle and a mediating undertone 
of gray. 

It will usually be found productive of the most har- 
monious results in all the combinations to have the mat 
in gray and the strips in color, thus furnishing a central 
and harmonizing background for the combinations of 
color. 

The suggestions given above concerning combina- 
tions of colors, while of definite value, cannot be 
considered prescriptive or restrictive, for much is still 
left to the taste of the kindergartener, as the har- 
monious result will be greatly influenced by the relative 

quantities of the colors used. 

18 



A combination of a very little of one color and a 
much greater quantity of another with a gray may be 
very agreeable, when a combination of equal quantities 
of the two colors might not be as pleasing. When 
strong primary or leading colors are used, the amount 
of strong color should be less than that of the dulled 
colors. For instance, a thread of yellow with a much 
broader mass of dull green, supplemented by gray, gives 
a charming effect. A smaller quantity of the active 
colors, Red, Orange and Yellow, should be used than of 
the passive colors, Green, Blue and Violet. Generally, 
equal quantities of different colors harmonize when the 
colors are equal in tone value. Consider, then, quantity 
or space value, as well as color in making any com- 
bination. 

Study beautiful color-effects everywhere in nature 
and in art, so as to be ready to lead the children to put 
away the crude and the glaring, and to enjoy with them 
the beauty of harmonious color. 



19 



ORDER OF USE OF COLORS. 

In practice it will be found well to begin by the use 
of but one of the six leading colors, Yellow, Orange, 
Red, Violet, Blue, Green, at a time with Gray. With 
a single color any of the three Grays may be used ac- 
cording to the effect desired and the amount of positive 
color used. If a bright, strong effect is desired, use a 
Gray contrasting in strength of tone with the color used; 
if a more quiet effect is desired, use a Gray which has 
about the same strength of tone as the color used. 
Combinations of two colors and then of three may be 
taken. The use of a leading color with an inter- 
mediate in its own range or with another leading color 
will be harmonious with the undertone gray for that 
particular range. These combinations are seen in tabu- 
lar form on the next page. 

The full color of the normal tones is better fitted 
than the tints of a color to develop color-perception; for 
the normal tone of a color fills the eye and acts with 
more certainty and directness than the tint. Therefore, 
work should be given in the normal tone of a color 
before work in the tints of that color. 



20 



HARMONIES OF COLORS WITH UNDERTONES. 



Gray X 


Gray XI 


Gray XII 


Y-0 


V-R 


G-BG 


Y-R 


RV-BV 


etc. 


O-YO 


B-R 




ORO 


B-RV 




O-R 


etc. 




etc. 







If care is taken to make the undertone gray of the 
design the dominant quality, the result will be generally 
more satisfactory than if one of the more positive colors 
dominated. 




EsXAAyJL-. 



21 



COLOR FEELING RATHER THAN THEORY. 

It does not seem advisable to make any rule in color 
work too arbitrary or exacting, permitting always a 
very liberal latitude for the natural feelings of both 
teacher and pupil. It is noted that people less civilized 
than ourselves, and also young children, frequently 
show a fine feeling for harmonious arrangements of 
color. 

The teacher will be wise to encourage and cultivate 
this perception and enjoyment of harmony as much as 
possible among the pupils, avoiding too many theories 
of color, and depending upon natural feelings, trained 
through the study of beautiful colors and objects, as 
the safest guides to produce the best possible results. 

The whole world of color in nature lies open before 
them. The blue sky, the green leaves and grass, the 
rainbow in the heavens and in the water-drop, the lovely' 
gray cloud, the brilliant insect, the bright flower, the 
gay feather, the alluring shell — all win the hearts of the 
children by their exquisite color. Many of these beau- 
tiful things can be brought into the kindergarten and 
will afford the children pure delight; they will be 
the complement and supplement of the work in color in 

22 



the various occupations. And so the children's sense 
of the beautiful will daily grow. 

Harmonious combinations maybe shown to children 
and occasionally imitated by them. Children may also 
indicate their preferences as to the results of various 
color combinations. Beautiful color effects in textiles 
or in the grouping of colored vases with drapery will 
give much pleasure to the children and will increase 
their appreciation of the beauty of harmony. 




23 



USE OF WATER COLOR. 




The children delight to see color and their pleasure 
is heightened when they are allowed to produce it, so to 
speak, with the brush. The efforts of the children with 
the brush are necessarily child-like, as all their efforts 
are, but their attempts should not be judged unprofitable. 
The color-sense is being constantly developed in range 
and delicacy of perception by such exercises. 

A simple palette* of three colors, Yellow, Red and 
Blue, will serve them for all early work. Aim at first 

* Palette is here used to signify a range of colors. 



24 



to make the children acquainted with their materials 
and how to use them. This is best accomplished by 
giving them simple geometric figures, a circle, a square, 
a triangle, an oblong to cover with a flat wash of color. 
(See Plate I.) Yellow is a good color to begin with, as 
it works more easily in flat washes than the other colors. 
Give each a sheet having one figure upon it as a stand- 
ard ; let them cover this figure with a flat wash, and 
then repeat the figure with the brush. The illustra- 
tions, Plate II, Figs, i and 2, show h.ow this may be 
carried out. The sheet may be fastened to a white- 
wood board, or pulp board, with thumb-tacks. Chil- 



dren should be made familiar with the use of a broad 
brush, the handle to be about seven inches in length. 
Avoid the use of either short brushes ox pencils. 

Do not have the children sit too close to their work. 
Let them draw or paint from the shoulder and elbow, 
rather than from the wrist. 

Allow the children a liberal amount of colors, paper, 
etc., guarding against any misuse of material. Instruct 

25 



them to use everything to an end, to accomplish some- 
thing definite, to express some idea, if possible, in any 
attempt at drawing, color work, or weaving colored 
papers. 

Nothing should be used for play or pastime in color- 
exercises. Whenever a child is in that mood, give it 
something entirely different to work upon. 




Have the children aim to get pure, full color, not 
muddy or mottled. Each child should have his little 
cup of water and a simple tin plate or palette to work 
from, illustrated above. The younger children might 
have liquid color given them from bottles — older ones 
could use color from cakes in boxes, each child having 
his own little box. It is well for the teacher to have 
a sponge or blotting-paper at hand to take up excess 
of water or color in the brush. 



A variation to the work above suggested with the 
geometric figures would be found in having a single 
large figure in the middle of the sheet to be covered 



26 



with a flat wash — a border at the outside of the sheet 
to be invented by the children and painted in directly 
with the brush. (See Plate II, Figs. 3 and 4.) 

When the children have painted the simple geo- 
metric figures mentioned, decorative figures, such as 
the quatrefoil, the trefoil and the Greek cross could 
be used in a similar way. (See Plate II, Figs. 5 and 6.) 
And any of these figures could be painted in borders 
invented by the children. Examples are shown in 
Plate III. 

When they have had some experience in putting on 
color, give them objects, such as flowers, plants, pottery 
of graceful artistic shape and good color to work from. 
Let the children make the work from these objects very 
simple, in flat Japanese effects. Simple expression in 
color is much better and much more truly expressive of 
childlike feeling than ambitious attempts at shade and 
roundness. Young children doubtless see color gener- 
ally in simple flat masses and should be encouraged to 
express it so. 

Give the children a good deal of latitude in their 

painting, but always leading towards a possible form of 

27 1 



decoration. We need to study more the decorative, 
the simpler form of painting. 

There is nothing which delights a child so much as 
a color-box, and if it could be put within the reach of 
every child, important results might be reached. In 
Japan the children are instructed at a very early age, 
and painting is one of the principal forms of education. 
If, as teachers, you will undertake this matter with a 
desire of getting only the best and having the best in 
all branches of color work, you will have the satisfaction 
of knowing that you are not only doing something that 
will give yourselves pleasure, but that its influence over 
the next generation will be immeasurable in establish- 
ing a general sense of art and art standards. 




28 



Plate I 




GEOMETRIC FIGURES IN FLAT WASHES. 



Plate II 





••■.-■• 





I 1- 




5 6 

ARRANGEMENTS IN FLAT WASHES. 






Plate III 


















BORDERS IN FLAT WASHES. 



